Greetings ghosts and ghoulies and welcome to The Theatre of Terror the home of horror comic news, reviews, classic comic scans and creepy art from around the world. Just remember, it's not for the nervous!

Britain’s long running comic, 2000 AD, will be celebrating Hallowe’en in style this year with a brand new winter special, which goes on sale on the 29th of October. Here’s the promotional blurb…

With an exclusive new cover by critically-acclaimed horror artist Ben Templesmith, the 2000AD2014 Winter Special delves into the darkest recesses of its creators’ imaginations for a horror-themed 48-page issue containing complete stories featuring Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper, Psi-Judge Anderson, Defoe and the debut of new character The Alienist!

From 17th Century zombie hunters to nightmare horrors on alien worlds, some of the top creators in comics – plus new talent – serve their Thrill-power chilled with a zarjaz line-up, including:

JUDGE DREDD: SOREBONE by T.C. Eglington & Riccardo Burchielli
When members of a juve gang are picked off one by one, has one of its members being possessed by an ancient evil?

DEFOE: FRANKENSTEINER by Pat Mills & Leigh Gallagher
We flashback to 1666 and the start of the zombie epidemic, when Titus Defoe first agreed to take the position of Zombie Hunter General.

Feast your eyes on this teaser soon to be launched by Freaktown Comics. Writer and Freaktown impresario Russell Hillman is no stranger to weird fiction. Russell has an disturbed fondness for slasher movies and has studied the genre, fine-tuning and perfecting it, in comic book format. This one-shot comic looks to fit just the bill.

The Bowery, Lower Manhattan, 1980. The New York burlesque scene has faded away, replaced by strip joints, peep shows and porno palaces. One small club of indomitable performers – the Luxury Lounge – still holds out against the tide.

The art of burlesque is dying. For one person, it isn’t dying fast enough. As the bodies pile up, so do the suspects – could the killer be desperate club owner Mr Barnett? Cantankerous juggler The Amazing Ralph? Stale stand-up comic Martin Stevens?

A performer can die onstage a thousand times. Offstage, once is enough.

Deadly Burlesque is a one shot horror story inspired by the earliest of the first wave of eighties slasher movies. Written by Russell Hillman, art by Daniel Bell and letters by Sergio Calvet. 24 pages, full colour, £4.00. Deadly Burlesque will be released in November at the Thought Bubble Comic Convention in Leeds, England, with online release to follow.

José Ortiz Moya died yesterday, aged 81. The Spanish artist worked on comics including Warren’s Apocalypse, Night of the Jackass and Coffin in Eerie, and Pantha in Vampirella and of course The Thirteenth Floor.

He also co-created Hombre with Antonio Segura in the magazine Cimoc, as well as founding the publishing house Metropol in the eighties. During that period he also worked on British comics Eagle, Scream! and considerable work on Rogue Trooper for 2000AD as well as Judge Dredd.He also created and co-created the comics Ives (later, Morgan) and The Thousand Faces of Jack the Ripper, sci-fi comic Burton & Cyb, and in the nineties Juan el Largo.Since then, he worked on Italian comics Tex Willer, Ken Parker and Magico Vento.

José Ortiz’s contribution to Scream!, his work on The Thirteenth Floor and other stories that appeared in the comic, helped to elevate Scream! above the standard level of comic output in the 80’s. Personally, I’ve always considered The Thirteenth Floor as a real gem of a story, Jose’s art took it to a whole new level. He was one of the very best.

The 2012 Ghastly Award Nominees

The Ghastly Award Judges are proud to announce the 2012 Ghastly Award Nominees. The nominees, which were chosen by the entire comic creating community, reflect the wide range of horror material being published in print and web comic form today.

Named after acclaimed comics creator “Ghastly” Graham Ingels, the awards are now in their second year. Created to honor excellence in Horror Comics, every comic creator had a say in who the nominees were by nominating their favorites throughout the year.

Fan and Creator Voting will be open from January 1, 2013 until January 31, 2013. You may only vote once for the 2012 Nominees, and Fans will decide the winner of the Best New Series Award. Winners will be announced in February 2013.

We thank everyone who took the time to nominate in this year’s awards.

Egmont UK’s Classic Comics imprint was created to re-publish the wealth of classic comics in their archive.

Four volumes of Roy the Rovers kicked off our e-comic publishing in June this year and now we are excited to announce the launch of further classics on popular comic series from the 70s and 80s.

A fifth Roy of the Rovers has been made available along with publications from Misty and The Thirteenth Floor. From Battle Picture Weekly we will be publishing various strips including Johnny Red, Major Eazy and the ground- breaking Charley’s War. Some of the biggest names in British comics were involved in the creation of these stories, including Pat Mills and John Wagner.

David Riley, Managing Director of Egmont Publishing Group, said:

“these are iconic magazines which still have a place in the national consciousness. They deserve to be brought back; their appeal also has the potential to transcend the generation gap and reach an entirely new, younger audience. With the limitless possibilities offered up by digital publishing, there has never been a better time to bring these comics to the fore.”

You can now purchase printed copies of Hallowscream via the all new Comicsy website.

With just over 2 weeks until the launch of Hallowscream 4, we are delighted to announce you can now swot up on the 3 previous issues by taking a trip over to the wonderful new UK small press website Comicsy. This excellent site contains a whole host of comics, antholgies and small press doodlings from some awesome names in the UK comics scene, may of who have graced the pages of our beloved Hallowscream.

If you’re too skint to purchase Hallowscream, dont forget you can download them as free digital PDF’s by visiting the Hallowscream website.

Literary metafiction mashups are all the rage these days, and it was inevitable that sooner or later someone would bring together two of the most famous literary giants, Shakespeare and Lovecraft. BD turns the indie spotlight on D.R. O’Brien who is adapting his own “Shakespeare Vs. Lovecraft” novella into graphic novel form for a bizarre tale of wit and eldritch terror. The story follows Prospero, who discovers the coveted Necronomicon, giving rise to Cthulhu and his pals. It’s up to Shakespeare’s greatest heroes to save the world from oblivion in what can only be an outlandish horror comedy.

Prospero, driven dangerously insane by prolonged exposure to the dread Necronomicon, makes a terrible pact with the titanic alien beast known only as Cthulhu. Now only his enchantress daughter Miranda and a handful of history’s greatest heroes are all that stand between humanity and blasphemous eternal subjugation. It’s a bloodbath of Shakespearean proportions as Cthulhu and his eldritch companions come at our protagonists from all manner of strange geometric angles in a hideous and savage battle for supremacy.

Check out the trailer below.

We’ve got a preview of the graphic novel adaptation too with some great art by Curt Sibling.

A few years ago, Neil Gaiman was approached by DC Comics to write a new chapter in the Sandman series. He referred to it as Sandman Zero, it would tell the story of what Dream was up to, when he was captured by humans, trying to enslave Death.

However, Gaiman describes the contract offered as less than ideal, giving him similar terms as when he began the book. And, that as a sucessful and famous fantasy author, his added value was considerable. He proposed a solution, to increase the percentage on his other Sandman work being printed over a much longer period of time, that would make up for the loss. DC Comics declined, so Gaiman went on to write the novel The Graveyard book instead, which did very well.

Now, seemingly in the light of Before Watchmen, DC have approached Neil Gaiman again. And based on the bar talk at San Diego last night, we can presume that this time, if it is indeed the same Sandman premise and not something new, negotiations have been more successful.

And on art, is one artist who I was told had a new project, Batwoman and Promethea‘s JH Williams III.

If true, one might expect an announcement sooner rather than later. DC Vertigo are publishing the new Sandman Slipcase Set, a new collection of Gaiman’s Neil Gaiman’s Midnight Days Deluxe Edition work and there is a prominent Sandman visual at the San Diego booth this year. I’d heard some rumours about Sandman being reintroduced into the New52 recently that were denied at the highest levels, so I didn’t report them. This one is far more widespread however, and also a tad more believable.

Especially with the rumour that Williams III had a big new DC project to announce this week…

Titan Magazines and Skybound have announced the launch of The Walking Dead, The Official Magazine, based on Robert Kirkman’s Eisner Award-winning comic book series, best-selling graphic novels and Emmy-winning AMC television series based upon them.

Following its transition from groundbreaking comic book to the highest-rated basic cable drama of all time, The Walking Dead has cemented its status, not only as a phenomenon with the wildly diverging fans of horror and of character-driven drama, but as a milestone in quality, mainstream television.

The Walking Dead, The Official Magazine will feature an inside look at the comic and show as only a fully sanctioned quarterly can. No one will get more exclusives than this magazine. Get exclusive access to the most successful television adaptation of a comic ever, including in-depth interviews Kirkman, Executive Producer/Writer on the show; Glen Mazzara, Showrunner/ Executive Producer/Writer of the series and David Alpert, Executive Producer of the series.

And that’s not all – readers will hear from all of the leads on the hit TV show Andrew Lincoln, who stars as Rick Grimes; Sarah Wayne Callies, who stars as Lori Grimes, Jon Bernthal, who played fan-favourite bad boy Shane.

Robert Kirkman commented, “This magazine will be your one stop destination for all the news pertaining to the comic, TV show, video game, toys, games, and whatever else exists in the ever-expanding Walking Dead universe! If it’s happening, you’ll find out all about it right here!” Nick Landau, Titan Publisher, added: “We’re very excited to be publishing the quarterly The Walking DeadMagazine with Robert Kirkman and Skybound, which will be a once in a lifetime opportunity for fans to get unlimited access to the show and comic.”

Fans will also get the opportunity to ask Kirkman what’s coming up in future issues of The Walking Dead, or find out how the series artist Charlie Adlard keeps up with the fast pace of the monthly comic so brilliantly.

The Walking Dead, The Official Magazine debuts on 23rd October in the US with 100 pages of all access, no holds barred zombie festing and feasting. With all the latest news, revelations and tips for fans of the television show and the graphic novels.

Issue #1 of The Walking Dead, The Official Magazine comes with an alternative cover featuring an exclusive, coloured zombie scene by The Walking Dead comic artist, Charlie Adlard. This alternative collector’s edition is only available through comic stores. Retailers can order via August Diamond PREVIEWS.

Fans of the show are urged to join The Walking Dead, The Official Magazine on Twitter and Facebook to keep up to date with exclusive developments and deals. The magazine is currently offering fans a special pre-order subscription saving 20% off the newsstand cover price – click here

The Walking Dead, The Official Magazine issue #1 will be available on newsstands and in specialty comic book stores in the US on 23rd October in the UK on 8th November and Australia & New Zealand on 18th December

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